Quirk
by skwirelygurli
Summary: Ally tries to change who she is to impress Austin, who loves her just the way she is. Auslly.


**Quirk**, **an Austin and Ally one-shot**

**I do not own Austin and Ally. This is another request from Inlovewithlove16. Make sure to leave requests and reviews!**

It starts with two words.

"Excuse me?" a voice calls out behind her.

Ally turns to give the customer her full attention. "Yes, how can I- Elliot!"

"Hey!" He holds his arms out for her. She rounds the counter, tucking herself into his embrace. Out of the corner of her eye she can see Austin and Dez returning from lunch.

"What are you doing here?" she asks his chest. Her words come out a bit muffled, so she moves back.

"My dad came on business so I convinced him to let me tag along so I could see you."

"Aww." A smile crosses her face. She takes his hand. "Hey, come meet my friends."

He follows her over to the doorway. The boys pretend to be in a deep conversation. She doesn't need to know they were watching her.

It's not every day a boy comes in with his sights set on Ally.

"Elliot, this is Austin and Dez." She points to them.

"Hi!" Dez says enthusiastically. Austin echoes, his voice a much sulkier tone.

He gives the boy a once over. "So how do you know Ally?"

His tone doesn't seem to affect Elliot. He sounds a bit standoffish, but he's grinning like an idiot.

Probably because he's by her side.

"We went to camp together." He nods towards the bag dangling from Austin's hand. "What's in the bag?"

None of your business.

"Leftovers from lunch." On the way to the diner, he thought he was hungry. But not even halfway through the chicken pot pie, he found himself picking at the food. It was delicious as always.

It's just he was more concerned thinking about what Kira had said about him liking Ally.

Even more, he was concerned that he was thinking about her more than his girlfriend.

"I thought you were taking Kira to dinner."

"I am. They're for tomorrow."

"Mind if we join you? I'd love to catch up with Ally." Elliot puts a hand on her back.

This shouldn't bother him. Friends touch friends all the time.

It's the way he clings onto the small of her back, claiming it as his own that bothers him. That belongs to Ally. And if anybody has dibs on it, it's going to be him.

Provided she gives him permission.

Her eyes are bright. Almost as if she enjoys the feeling of his hand on her back.

"Okay. Meet us here at six."

_(the page breaks here)_

He shows up exactly at six. He's neither a minute too early or too late.

"Why hello. You must be Kira." He takes her hand and pumps it twice.

Their hands remain for a beat too long. "And you must be Elliot. Ally and Austin are just finishing something upstairs."

He leans back against the counter. In his left hand are two flowers.

"Not a problem." He holds one of the flowers out to her. "This is for you."

She takes it between her fingers. Here is a boy she just met, bringing her flowers. Her own boyfriend doesn't bring her flowers.

That didn't stop him from sending them to his best friend.

She pushes the jealousy aside. "Thank you. It's so beautiful."

"What's so beautiful?" Ally asks, coming down the stairs.

"Elliot gave me a rose."

"I have one for you too." He meets her at the bottom of the steps. She takes the rose from him.

Petting the petals, she thanks him. "You are the sweetest. Isn't he Austin?"

A forced smile makes its way across his face.

"He is."

_(the page breaks here)_

They go to a restaurant that Elliot's father recommends. Austin's been there once before. It's not his favorite, but he's not going to argue. The girls have already been won over.

The bill comes. Austin takes out his wallet.

"It's on me," Elliot says, placing a hand on top of his.

He does not like the feeling of his hand. It's way too smooth, like he applies lotion by the hour.

Well, that would explain that fresh peach scent.

"Are you sure?" he asks. He's able to pay for his own meal.

"Yeah. My dad is friends with the head chef. He cut us a deal." He takes a couple crisp dollars out of his wallet.

That's why he was so insistent on coming here. It's different to know somebody than have a coupon that your mom cut out of the Sunday paper.

Which to be clear, was not why he wanted to go for Italian. He was craving lasagna.

There it was guaranteed your food wouldn't look back at you. Here, he had the joy of being stared at by Elliot's fish while he tried to enjoy his crab cakes.

It's like it was judging him for looking at Ally. She was sitting right across from him.

He couldn't just face Kira and ignore the two sharing the table.

"I'll be right back. I need to use the bathroom." He slides out of the booth.

Behind the closed door, he splashes water on his face. Elliot is as slick as an oil spill. His girlfriend is wrapped around his little finger, gushing over everything he says.

Ally hasn't quite reached her level yet. Still, she isn't uninterested.

He checks his teeth. All he needs is to smile and have something be stuck in there. That'll win her over.

He really shouldn't be trying to win a girl over when he already has a girlfriend.

_(the page breaks here)_

The next morning, there is something different about Ally. Multiple somethings actually.

If only he could put his finger on it.

Literally, he'd love to put his hands all over her.

She's propped up on the counter, head tossed back in laughter. Full blown, genuine laughter as a result of something somebody said.

That somebody being Elliot.

"Morning," he says to Austin. Morning is a time of day. It is like saying afternoon, or night, or 3:13, eastern standard time.

Whatever happened to saying 'good' morning?

Despite the sarcastic remarks piling up in his head, he goes for something neutral. "Hi."

"Hey Austin," she says. Her curls bounce as she snaps her head back.

They're the types of ringlets he can get his hand lost in. He forces down the urge to test this theory.

She takes a tube of lip balm out of her pocket. 'Strawberry ice cream' the label reads.

Mmm, ice cream.

"W-what's up?" he stutters. It's a bit too hypnotizing to watch. She runs the tube along her bottom lip, rubbing them together. Her mouth makes a puckering noise.

"Elliot and I were reminiscing about old times at camp." The capped tube gets placed back in her pocket.

"Did Ally ever tell you the story about how we broke into the games cabin?"

She jumps off of the counter. The height of her heels does not deter her feet from landing safely on the ground. He tripped this morning over air. She has so much more grace than him.

Then again, the way she dances, he isn't so sure.

"You're kidding." His eyes pop on their own accord.

"There's a perfectly logical explanation," she starts. Elliot cuts her off.

"You see," he says, covering her mouth with his hand, "we were playing doctor. Ally's teddy bear was the patient. Then they called for dinner, and we left him there so we could come back later. But after dinner they surprised us with a movie night, and we never got to go back."

Ally squirms. If she breaks free, she can stop him from embarrassing her further. He was supposed to be helping her, not making fun of her.

"Alright..." Austin says, waiting for him to continue.

"Turns out, little Miss Ally was scared of the dark and couldn't sleep without Bear-nard. So she asked me to help her break into the games cabin once all the counselors were asleep." He pats the top of her head.

He looks to Ally, who is squirming again. "You broke into a cabin?"

She manages to get out of his hold.

"If he would have told me the door wasn't locked, I wouldn't have had to."

"She tried to crawl in through an open window." A picture of her butt dangling out of the window pops into his head.

He chuckles. "Did you end up getting into trouble?"

"Sort of. She got stuck, so I had to wake one of the counselors to help me get her out. We ended up getting her bear back, but she didn't get dessert the rest of the week." She crosses her arms.

He didn't know Ally could be that feisty.

He kind of likes it.

_(the page breaks here)_

If he would have come in five minutes earlier, everything would make sense.

But he comes in now, and his hands are all over her. "No, move like this."

He bends her elbow in closer to her side. Austin must have audibly gasped, because they notice his presence. The music plays on.

"I just came up to get the rest of my chicken pot pie from yesterday." He had left it in the fridge. To get it, he has to cut through their force field of love.

That's how it feels anyway.

Had he been there, he would have seen Elliot tell Ally that there was a song she just had to hear. He would have seen him dance over to the computer, pulling up a video of the song.

He would have seen him laughing at her dancing.

He would have heard him offer to teach her some new moves. Ones that could impress a certain someone.

The same certain someone who is five minutes too late.

Suddenly, he's not hungry anymore.

"Dude, staring at the fridge isn't going to make the food come to you. Trust me. I've tried." Elliot sets his hands on Ally's waist. The video, which is on repeat, starts again.

He guides her through the first few motions. Austin walks over to the fridge. He taught her to slow dance. If anyone, she should have come back to him.

"Ugh."

"What's the matter?" She attempts to do the motions on her own. It isn't half bad.

"I forgot a fork." Not a total lie. There were no clean forks around.

It was more about how the two of them are getting along and he's getting a long term heartache.

Curse his inability to hide his feelings.

"That sucks." Elliot demonstrates a move for Ally.

"I think I might have one downstairs. Let me go check."

"Hold on," he calls to her. "You can't go until you prove that you can do the dance."

She sighs. He's not the boss of her.

That doesn't stop her from retreating and doing the dance.

She does it well.

She's just full of surprises today.

_(the page breaks here)_

He takes his pot pie out to the fountain to eat. It's too much to sit and watch them act the way they are.

"Can I talk to you?"

He stabs his pot pie with his fork. "Oh, hi Elliot."

The boy takes it as permission to sit. One false move, and he could end up in the fountain. He'd be soaked to the bone.

He stabs the pie again.

"Do you like Ally?"

"We're best friends." He takes a bite.

"Just best friends?" His hand runs through the water, making ripples.

Austin swallows. "I have a girlfriend. And Ally, well, she has you."

Elliot laughs.

It was not meant to be funny. In fact, it's been tearing at his heart all morning.

"I promise you, there is nothing going on between Ally and me." He lifts his hand and wipes it dry on his pants. "And I know you have a girlfriend. That doesn't mean that you don't like her."

His fork scrapes at a pea. The pea rolls away.

"There's something different about her today."

"A good different?"

"I dunno. I liked her the way she was before."

Elliot's head hits his knees. "I wish you would have said something earlier."

Austin stops chasing the pea.

"Why?"

"Because I've been spending all of my time helping her make herself over for you."

"Why would she do that? She already knows I like her."

He shakes his head.

"That," he says, stabbing the pea in one try, "is something you need to ask Ally."

Austin takes the fork back from him. "I don't want to make things weird between us. It could ruin our partnership."

Elliot stands up, brushing off his pants.

"I had a feeling you liked her. You couldn't keep your eyes off of her." He's direct about it. Austin blushes.

"Then why'd you help her with the makeover?"

He shrugs.

"To get your attention." He turns on his heel. The conversation is over.

He has left Austin with more than enough to think about.

_(the page breaks here)_

The takeout box gets tossed in the garbage.

He scrolls through his contact list and selects her name. Kira.

She picks up on the third ring. "Hey."

There's a lot of background noise. He should ask her where she is, or say he'll call her back. But he's on a mission.

"Do you think you could meet me at the mall fountain?"

"Does this have anything to do with you wanting to ask Ally out?" The noise diminishes. She must have stepped outside.

Her accuracy startles her. "Is it that obvious?"

"Yes. And I ran into Elliot. He said you were looking for me." At least he hadn't said why. Not that it matters now. "Austin, I think we're better off as friends."

Those were supposed to be his words. He was supposed to break up with her, being gentle about it. Though if he fell for his best friend, he isn't doing anything he's supposed to lately.

"I'm sorry," he apologizes.

"Don't be. I think deep down, there was always that feeling that you liked her, even if you said you didn't."

"I'm still sorry."

"What's to be sorry for? That you love her?" There it is. People have danced around the topic, saying that he likes her, or that they'd be cute together.

Love is an entirely different playing field.

Love is an entirely accurate term.

_(the page breaks here)_

Ally bombards him the moment he steps back into the Sonic Boom.

"What's going on with Kira and Elliot?"

"What do you mean?"

"They came by holding hands and wished me good luck." Somehow knowing that they're going to be okay makes him feel less guilty about breaking up with her.

He takes Ally's hand. "I think I'm going to be the one needing the luck."

She raises an eyebrow at him.

Without question, she lets him lead her to the practice room.

He nervously paces.

"Austin?"

"Elliot said I should ask you why you wanted a makeover. Especially since," he ducks his head to avoid eye contact as he continues, "I already liked you."

She lifts his chin. "You only like me as a friend."

"About that..."

He blushes.

"Really?"

"Ally, I just broke up with my girlfriend to be with you." He scuffs his shoe across the floor. It's a nervous habit.

She kisses him.

"I was wrong. Elliot's not the sweetest. You are." She hugs him.

"So you'll go out with me?"

"Yes!" She hugs him tighter.

He lets go to get some air. That girl has a strong grip.

"Promise me one thing." She nods. "Promise me you'll be yourself. Quirky Ally, who can't dance and makes rules that she knows I'll break. The girl who loves to gavel and chews her hair and writes the most awesome songs ever."

"Deal."

They seal it with a kiss.


End file.
